December 10, 2009

Sturgeon Creek to get interactive

Sturgeon Creek to get interactive

Sturgeon Creek is swimming in green following a cash infusion from the provincial government.

The Manitoba Wildlife Fund recently received $120,000 from the province’s Fisheries Enhancement Fund to create the Sturgeon Creek Interpretive Parkway in St. James.

The money will go towards constructing an outdoor classroom, installing interpretive signage, and restoring native stream-bank vegetation near Grant’s Old Mill.

With funding from the province and other outside organizations, the federation has raised a sizeable portion of the $200,000 needed to undertake the project.

MWF vice-president Gary Morlock, who has been spearheading the project, said it is about much more than just preserving the habitat. It’s also about inspiring young people, he said.

“The most important thing about this is getting the word out there, especially to the youth. That’s the whole bottom line,” Morlock said.

“Think back to who influenced you in your life. We all hopefully had that. But some kids maybe just didn’t and if they come to a place like this they might get something from it.”

Morlock said the parkway will be interactive and hands-on for school groups, adding they will be “the stewards of tomorrow.”

Kristin Tuchscherer, the city’s naturalist education co-ordinator, said she hopes the project will dispel some misconceptions about the creek.

“A lot of people have a perception that the creek is dead or there’s nothing in there or the water isn’t moving,” she said, adding that upon closer investigation, “You see the plants, the aquatic organisms, the fish and the birds.”

Tuchscherer said that people have reported seeing bald eagles fly over the creek, and there are even stories of people almost having their dogs snatched by the birds.

“As long as you have open eyes and are out there long enough, you’ll eventually see something cool,” she said.

Amber Wiegand, president of the Assiniboine Watershed Network, said the government funding will provide the project with some momentum.

“It’s such a huge component of the project and it’s so much easier to get more funding when you have a big chunk in place,” she said.

“I find a lot of people drive, or walk by the area, and tons of people don’t even notice the museum that’s there or the fish way,” added Wiegand, who can see the fish ladder from her house.

Wiegand said the creek is historically significant because it was often used by Metis travellers. Grant’s Old Mill, which is located on Sturgeon Creek, was named after Metis leader Cuthbert Grant.

A fish ladder, which was constructed in 2001, is an integral part of the creek and provides more than 30 different fish species an additional 65 km of feeding, spawning and wintering habitats.

Morlock said organizers are still working to secure the remaining funding necessary for the project. He said the parkway could eventually include a Monarch butterfly garden.